Thursday, June 18, 2015

DINING | Pretty, pretty Le Petit Souffle

So I learned that rolling pins come from trees. Cute.

Open for about two months now, Le Petit Souffle is a fairly recent addition to Century City Mall's roster of restaurants. We first tried it last April and paid another visit a month later last May. Here's my little, or should I say, petit, review.Interiors and ambiance
Le Petit is definitely a pretty-looking restaurant that takes after a countryside inspiration. Marked by plastic trees and foliage in a nice, faux garden setting, the restaurant has a friendly and non-restrictive vibe. It may all be plastic but I like it.

The furniture is varied, ranging from long wooden tables to lounge-like seating typical of a fancy cafe. Then throw in some Carla Bruni into the mix and we've got a really nice ambiance.

This is sort of like the "indoor section." But of course I know everything's indoors.

I really like this faux foliage hanging from the ceiling.

There's a variety of seating options here.

The food
The restaurant serves French cuisine with a Japanese influence. Consistent with its interiors, the way they present their food is just as pretty; I'll give them that. About the taste, however, I wasn't quite as impressed. The food ain't bad at all, no. I just wasn't wowed, probably because I've tasted better. Also, my expectations normally increase in accordance with a restaurant's price points, and Le Petit isn't exactly a cheap place to dine.

Here's a sampling of what we've tried so far.

Sweet corn potage (Php 195)
A thick corn soup topped with salted caramel popcorn and parmesan, I liked this one. Served with a portion of a corn cob on the side, this one's got a really cute presentation.

Cute way to serve soup.

Mac and foie (Php 625)
Quite expensive for mac and cheese, it was also rather underwhelming, even with the addition of foie gras, Hungarian sausage, and some fancy mushrooms. It lacked the richness and comforting feeling of good o'l mac and cheese.

Underwhelming for the price.

Valrhona Guanaja Souffle (Php 350)
Le Petit offers two main types of souffle: the souffle glace (frozen souffle) and the traditional one. The latter takes longer to serve, around 25 minutes as promised by the menu. We tried the Valrhona Guanaja, one of three available variants, which is a dark chocolate souffle with Vanilla Creme Anglaise. Taste and texture's good. At least this one's a winner.

The delectable Valrhona Guanaja.

Yakult + Guava (Php 375)
How could I resist Yakult? And guava? Plus a bunch of fresh mint leaves thrown into the mix? Before you get shocked by the price, this drink comes in a carafe, so it's meant for sharing. Still, it's not exactly cheap. Nice drink, though.

French toast
In its own take on this traditional dish, Le Petit uses a really thick slice of bread (much like Caffe Bene's honey bread) chopped into cubes. It's a hefty serving but because of its thickness, the bread isn't able to absorb all of the batter's goodness. As a result, the french toast isn't too sweet, which I'm okay with. And again, cute presentation.

Service
I have no major complaints with their waitstaff here although some are snappier than the others. Speed of service was just about fine but I haven't see how they are if the place is packed. But then nothing is ever packed at this mall.

********************In hindsight
Le Petit Souffle may be a cute and Instagram-worthy place to dine but to me it's not something you would really go out of your way for. That or I haven't found that one dish to keep coming back for yet. But if you happen to be at the mall, then by all means do try this place out.

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About Me

I am half-white. Half-Caucasian, if you may.
My dad's Danish and my mom's Filipino. I was born, raised, and am still living in the Philippines. And ironically - even pathetically - I've never been to Denmark.
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